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[forceforlight]

INBOX

(Please note if you are messaging Nightwing's official inbox or contacting Dick Grayson)

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Text, Dick’s phone

[mostdangerousbird]

Are you sitting down?

Text

[forceforlight]

Nothing good ever starts that way, just so you know.

But yes. I am. Now.

text; Dick Grayson's phone

[overlyprecocious]

Dear Haley,
I've run away from home. Don't look for me, because I'll be back in a few days anyway. I'm safe and I'll bring you back a new toy.

Love, Tim

[forceforlight]

Hey, Tim. Haley says thanks for letting her know and invites you over if you want tea or pets.

[Attached is a picture of Haley with a teapot. An actual teapot.]

Text to Dick, during work hours

[mostdangerousbird]

Is it me or is Jason’s ability to read a conversation off? You don’t think he has a concussion, do you?

[forceforlight]

I mean, considering everything, a concussion isn't impossible. But what's he reading wrong?

text » mr grayson

[reneger]

haven't decided yet if i should go get drunk and start barfights or if i should pick a good gang to start a war with

( otherwise read as: i'm in a bad mood. )

[forceforlight]

How long is the mood likely to last? Are you going to need fights close together for the serotonin or are regular fights further apart likely to do the job?

Text | Dick's phone

[robintohood]

[About a day after this conversation, Jason sends a text]

Had a few conversations with our little brothers. We need to talk

[forceforlight]

Sure. Do you want it via text or in person?

Text from a burner

[robintohood]

[Uh-oh. Looks like the Jays are up to something]

Old Hood is taking Rook out of Central. He's gonna make sure he's with someone safe

Re: Text from a burner

[forceforlight]

[Narrow eyes at the phone.]

Probably a good choice. For the smartest of us, he's kinda dumb sometimes. The older ones of us are meant to make ourselves targets.

[Does he have something uploading to TikTok right now? Maybe...]

text.

[reneger]

before you say anything about it

tim started it

[forceforlight]

Is this about Tim disappearing from Central?

Text - Dick's phone

[robintohood]

[While Jason and Tim are texting to each other, Jason also sends a text to Dick]

We need to talk

[He then sends coordinates to a rooftop that's not too close to Descendant or Red Hood territory]

[forceforlight]

[Dick had been working, but Jason knows his shift pattern. Hell, Jason's the one who sets it. So it's not that surprising that he didn't hear the text at first. He tries not to check his phone while mixing drinks, after all.]

[But once he DOES see it, it's only the matter of a moment to change clothes and head up to the rooftop, heading that direction in the least linear way possible. Not wanting somebody from Fantastic's team to catch him out. So it's a little longer than usual before he makes it to the coordinates, but Jason's probably expecting that.]

Hey. Sorry I'm late. What's up?

text ↠ dick's phone

[otherflash]

I feel like doing something stupid and could use a wingman.

[forceforlight]

I've been called that before. What's up?

Text;

[overlyprecocious]

I found Bruce at the store and wound up inviting him over and he said yes

[forceforlight]

Thanks for telling me and letting me panic before I see him there.

Bat comms; private channel

[mostdangerousbird]

[ He breaks into the channel with little preamble, a little distracted by the work he’s doing. ]

You safe to talk?

[forceforlight]

[It takes a minute before the reply comes.]

Sorry. Needed to get to a rooftop. What's up?

Text, Dick's phone

[robintohood]

[Not long after this conversation, Jason texts Dick]

TJ and Tim's birthday is apparently coming up and someone wants to stick party planning on me

Re: Text, Dick's phone

[forceforlight]

July 19th. Crap. I forgot that was coming up that quickly.

Honestly, we're doing well enough that we could close Descendant for a 'private function' for a night. Put up a sheet over the bar so that we can use a cheap projector with somebody's laptop and have a movie night. Sandwich platter and ice cream?

text; dick's phone

[hackingyoursensors]

do you have time to meet up today?

it's no big deal if not

[ Because everything is totally fine. :) ]

[forceforlight]

[Which means it is a big deal. Or a big-ish deal, at least. Because Dick knows himself, even at that age.]

Yeah, I've got some time. Anywhere in particular you want to meet up? If not, I have a couple of suggestions.

[He's been meaning to contact the newest teen in the blush, but life has been getting in the way.]

text. b.

[batsymbol]

( he sends a copy of the following exchange to dick's phone because, out of all the kids he seems to have here, dick seems like the one to go to. for a lot of reasons. )

Does this mean anything to you?

[forceforlight]

[Reply takes a few minutes because Dick is technically at work. But he can take a minute, turn the bar over to one of the other bartenders, and take a few minutes of break.]

Tim's and TJ's birthday is the 19th. The older Jason was giving you ideas for gifts in the most cryptic way possible. It should be noted that it's a good list, though.

unknown number (encrypted), text—

[thwikt]

surpri
guess what? it's me r
so funny story
i'm aliv nope
shit
hey grayson, it's harper
got your # from jaybird
just wanted to let you know i'm here

[forceforlight]

[The answer takes a while. Partly because Dick puts his phone on Do Not Disturb when he's trying to sleep (because his siblings are assholes and the Batchat can get going at any time of the day or night). And partly because it's difficult knowing how to reply to a ghost.]

[Though, obviously, not a ghost. And probably from pretty far back in his own timeline, before things got weird again. So Dick takes the time to make coffee and feed Harley before he replies, because it takes time to figure out how to phrase it.]

Is this some kind of joke?
Ha ha, very funny, Jason.
Tell me something only Roy Harper would--
How the hell am I meant to respond to this?

Hey. I'd say I'm glad you're here, but given everything, I'm not sure I should be glad anybody gets pulled here. Glad to hear from you, though.

@green.lantern

[torchbearer]

hey amazing grayson.

got a minute?

[forceforlight]

Hey, GL. Got a few. What's up?

[Nananananananana, Bat Chat!] [Minus Bruce, of course]

[forceforlight]

[The text doesn't come with an explanation. Just a picture of a kid in Dick's apartment, petting Haley.]

[It's just that they'll all KNOW that kid. They've all seen pictures of that kid, either at stately Wayne Manor or, in the case of the younger Dick and the Jasons, in the tabloids, implying something salacious about Bruce Wayne taking in kids that he doesn't have to.]

[At least they have a quiet place to all have a crisis about it.]

text; private

[hackingyoursensors]

do you need help w anything?

text.

[reneger]

we need to talk

[forceforlight]

Where? I'd suggest the last place, but I think we're probably banned.

Text to Dick's phone

[robintohood]

[While this is happening, Jason texts Dick]

Extra Tiny Tim is with me. I'll keep an eye on him

[forceforlight]

Thanks for the heads up. I do have a tracker on him. He's not as good at getting rid of them at 7 as he is later.

delivery-ish.

[batsymbol]

( there's an envelope, thick in width, marked dick on it left at his place with tim. inside, bill after bill after bill after bill totaling fifteen thousand dollars. tucked in front of the bills, a white notecard with bruce's handwriting on it: to help with a new place. - b. whether that means a new place for him and tim or a belfry for all of them is up to dick. )

text. b.

[batsymbol]

( as always, through a secure connection, etc. )

I take it you got it.

[forceforlight]

Yeah, I got it. If you'd come while somebody was here, I could have at least offered you my thanks in person.

I would have texted earlier, but with you having fallen off the radar for a few weeks, I didn't want to do something that could put you in danger. Text going off at the wrong time might.

un: arsenal, text—

[thwikt]

you sitting out on this one, grayson?
cuz word on the street is that only wonder woman and small b are going to fight the super powerful goddess

[forceforlight]

I had to take care of a few things before I said anything. Also, it was kind of interesting watching how it was going to fall out.

They aren't the only ones going. They just aren't aware that I'm going yet.

after diana tells him about dick's plan.

[batsymbol]

( he's been at dick's apartment before, but he's not waiting inside when the other heads in when the possibility of tim being inside is there. because that's just it: tim lives with dick [and haley] and bruce just wants to talk to dick. alone.

whether it's the front door outside the building or the window as dick seems to have a penchant for slipping in, the moment dick goes to do just that, a batarang flings by dick and sticks into the cement there of the building harshly. right beside him. not as a threat, but more to get his attention. given the early look of it, it's not too difficult to know who threw the thing.

and that's when bruce appears... and he doesn't look all that happy. )

You're not going.

( voice rough, he doesn't even need to clarify what he means by that. he knows dick knows what he's talking about. )

[forceforlight]

[Tim's actually been sent to the Jason still in town. Him and Haley both. Dick's been doing everything he can to get things set up here so that when he goes through that portal, everything is settled. There's no telling how long they'll be gone.]

[This time, it's the door. Dick's not expecting the batarang, but he's not that surprised, either. He stops in the doorway, turning his head before picking the batarang out of the wall when Bruce appears.]

[He looks at Bruce before handing it back.]

That's not a decision you get to make, B.

just some father-son time in the 80s.

[batsymbol]

( in the time that they've spent here in the past, bruce hasn't done much in the way of getting to know dick — in spending time with him that hasn't been tracking, stalking, skulking, or working. they didn't come here as some sort of vacation, he says. they're here to do a job, to find what they can, and do what they can with that. despite that, he's had a couple moments with diana, sure. ones which, should they get back to the present, he'll overthink and dissect the absolute hell out of. but with dick, he's kept it mostly about work. about all this. and he wonders if maybe he shouldn't have. if he should have... done something different.

so he's here. coming into dick's room, paper bag in hand that tells of food being brought what with the familiar smell of fast food wafting from inside it. )

Thought you might be hungry.

( never mind that it's a little late. who doesn't like burgers and fries when they're so ridiculously cheap? )

[forceforlight]

[Dick's only just made his way back to the hotel. Most of his day has been spent on stakeout by Neil Perkins' office. Not to follow him. He seems fairly normal. But his assistant is interesting.]

[And annoying. Which is why Dick looks a bit put out as he comes out of the bathroom, having been in the shower. An expression that eases when he sees Bruce and he puts the towel back over his head to dry his hair.] Yeah, I am. Thanks.

[The room is basically a mirror of the one that Bruce is sharing with Diana. So there's a table and a couple chairs by the window. And two bags by the closet that Dick and Roy have obviously been living out of.]

text. b.

[batsymbol]

( through a secure connection, etc. a little before he dips. )

I’m headed out for a bit. Call it a break. Need to figure things out. Letting you know this time.

[forceforlight]

I appreciate you letting me know. I can let the others know, too.

Drop Diana a text before you disappear entirely, please? At least to let her know that you're alive and not totally ghosting her.